Looking toward Moving

Visiting Meijer garden with snuggling up to a movie bathtime!

friends and cousins

Loving Aunt Rachel's chicken He's always dressed up as something :)>

noodle soup.

It's been about a month since I've posted so I thought it was time. No birthdays coming up so I thought I'd just give an update on life. The big event right now is preparing to move. We are trying to get our house ready to sell and that is proving to be as difficult as we feared. We are trying to pack up to declutter, paint, repair, and clean all with 3 kids running around. Thankfully we were blessed with a weekend child free and a bunch of friends came over for a painting party. We accomplished a lot in that weekend, but there is still so much to do.

We also contacted a realtor. It was very discouraging. The value of the house has dropped quite a bit and we're competing with a lot of foreclosures in the area. We are reminded though of how much God has provided for us in the past and are staying pretty upbeat about the whole thing. The 2 big provisions I keep thinking of are the anonymous check for our trip to Africa and the amazing timing on flood insurance refunds to buy our van. God has been faithful so we are continuing to trust in him.

On another note, in the midst of all of this we are all staying busy. Jason is busy getting things together to practice in TN and finish up some residency stuff. Charlie is playing soccer again and school is going really well with him. He can read almost anything now, which still stuns me. Nathan is growing up so fast. He follows Charlie everywhere and immitates everything (good and bad). Caitlin is standing on her own, but not yet taking steps. She is such a cuddly little girl and loves her big brothers. I'm busy as ever with 3 kids and all the activites and things that go along with that. We have also been involved in a group training for missions. This has been incredibly challenging, but really good.

The 1st weekend in May we are going to look at places to live in Memphis, so it's getting very real. Moving will certainly be bitter sweet. I'm looking forward to the community there and excited to finally get into some mission work after all these years of preparation. We'll also be closer to our parents and extended families for the 1st time since Charlie was 7months old. It will be hard, though, to leave behind all the friends and family here.

I asked God for many years to let me live in MI again with my family. He answered. God is good and his gifts are perfect. Still I'm sad.My nephews are spending the week with us right now and I can't help but wonder how the kids are going to deal with no longer seeing each other all the time. I pray they make friends quickly and that visits up here will be enough to keep the bonds between cousins. I pray that my sister and I will not feel lonely without each other. Even in this though, God is in charge and He knows best so I can trust the future to him. I thank Him for the 5 years we've had here, they have been a blessing and I know the next step will be full as well.